Defibrillation
by onryoii
Summary: When people said the world was going to end, Eridan never thought it would end like this...


When people said the world was going to end, Eridan never thought it would end like this.

Teeth bit down softly against the cool metal of his gold rings, violet eyes wide behind his glasses at the images that flashed across the television with a fist curled against his lips.

People dead.

People dying.

People being eaten.

People coming _back_.

It was the only news station that was still on air and that was only because they had a helicopter up and circling the air, filming the madness below.

But even Eridan knew that the people in the newsroom would be forced to go off air eventually. Either to escape while they could or because they were all dead. It would most likely end up being both.

"Eridan."

It didn't register that someone had spoken to him, his attention was glued firmly to the screen and he was only pulled out of it as a hand grabbed onto his shoulder. A startled gasp left his lips and his heart immediately ended up in his throat, whirling around only to have his arms grabbed. Instinct kicked in and he began to squirm, fighting against the grip holding him in place until he realized that they were still in his house and began to calm down.

His gaze met another set violet eyes, a bit darker in color but clearly alike.

"Cronus." He managed to croak out, feeling a bit weak from the initial scare.

He certainly hoped he didn't look as pale as his brother did at the moment. The two siblings stared quietly at each other for a few moments before Eridan spoke the thought that was on both their minds.

"Cronus, Dad, he-..."

The elder Ampora's lips pursed into a line, jaw setting and his brows furrowed in an attempt to look confident when in all reality he was as uncertain as Eridan was, "I know, kid. But listen, we have to _go._ We can't stay here. Ya saw what shit's going down and it's headin' this way. We need to leave. Fast. Go get some stuff and meet me outside."

Eridan watched him leave, fingers curling into the fabric of his blue scarf to tug on it nervously.

How could this have happened?

Just this morning things were normal. He'd woken up, gone to school... Half-way through the day there was an emergency declaration given over the television and they were released to go home because clearly the dead combing back to life to try to eat anything living was a security risk and people needed to be ready to take action. What they'd failed to mention was how the _fuck _had it even started?! Nothing had been said on _that _piece of information and the only thing crossing the radios or televisions had been carnage and chaos.

And jets.

He'd seen lots of jets flying past with missiles attached underneath their wings. F-16's, F-18's, a few F-22's. Some pretty heavy firepower.

He knew what that meant. He'd read into enough military warfare and strategy books to realize if they were breaking out that kind of ammunition already there was no hope of stopping it without wiping out everything.

And to top everything off, their father was out of town on a business trip.

As much as Eridan wanted to stay and wait for him come back, Cronus was right. They had to move while things were relatively stable. Granted there was only so much stability you could have when zombies were gradually, and quite literally, ripping apart society.

Turning away from the flat-screen, Eridan instead moved into the kitchen, grabbing his messenger bag and dumping the contents out on the counter.

He highly doubted he'd ever need to worry about homework after this.

Moving to the cabinets, he pushed aside boxes and cans, taking only the things that he knew would last without expiring in a quick amount of time or run the risk of molding. So namely canned goods which he was quick to add a can opener because what good would they do if you couldn't fucking open them? He grabbed a few more things that they could've possibly needed; scissors, a few knives, a couple forks, matches, the first-aid kit underneath the sink... Yeah, that was about everything he could think of off the top of his head.

Turning, he spotted his camera nestled on the pile of school binders and books where it'd fallen out of his backpack. He stopped, staring at it for a moment before finally moving to grab it. Why? He didn't know. But he was sure he'd find a use for it at some point. Looking up, he gave the kitchen one last look over because it was probably the last time he'd ever see it.

A breeze coming through the cracked window carried the smell of smoke and fire on the wind and rustled a few papers stuck to the fridge.

Along with a few photos.

They were photos Eridan had taken years ago when he was younger. Most of them were pictures of himself and Cronus; both siblings wearing wide, cheesy grins in almost all of them. Others were of all three of them; Eridan, Cronus, and their father with his dark hair swept back, the same, striking violet eyes his sons had, and with a charming grin that could disarm a serial killer. But suddenly the pictures of the trio seemed to be less cheerful and carefree and more forced than anything else...

Of course, Eridan knew damn well why. They all did.

Reaching out a hand, he slipped a photo out from under the magnet to look at. It was a picture of all three of them only with the addition of one more. A female. She was a tad younger than their father with long, wavy hair pulled back in a casual braid and her blue eyes crinkled with laughter as she hugged the three men in her life.

Their mother.

A slight, aching pang hit him at the thought. She'd been dead for almost nine years. She'd always been sickly when she was little, according to their father. None of them ever expected her to die of pneumonia during one extremely cold winter. It hadn't been anyone's fault but their family hadn't really been the same since; namely between Cronus and their Father.

"Ya ready to go?"

He quickly slid the picture into the bag before turning to face Cronus who was lingering in the doorway, a bag slung over his own shoulder. What got his attention the most was the sleek, black pistol in his hand.

Cronus must've noted where his attention was because he looked down, tilting his hand to examine the weapon.

"...I have a feelin' we might need it."

"Yeah."

He quickly tailed his older brother to the garage, the spot where their father's car would be was empty but there was an extra in case they ever had an emergency while he was gone. And he had a feeling this definitely counted as one of those times.

While Eridan slid into the passenger seat, Cronus fished the keys out of the pocket of his leather jacket to slip into the ignition, reaching up his other hand to press the button on the rearview mirror that opened the Garage door. They sat in silence until they were out in the driveway with the garage door closing behind them. Their street had been abandoned two or three hours ago but they'd stayed a little longer to see if their Father would call the house phone like he sometimes did but no such thing had happened and it was getting down to the wire now.

As they drove down the street, Cronus flipped on the radio, twisting the dial between his fingers in an attempt to locate a station with _some _sort of news but all that came over the speakers was static.

"C'mon, baby, c'mon..." Cronus mumbled, tongue sliding between his lips in a look of utter concentration. When his efforts were returned with more static, he ground his teeth together and leaned back in the seat to promptly smash the heel of his boot against the screen, "Fuckin' piece a' manufactured _shit_!"

Normally, Eridan would've said something snarky in regards to how it wasn't the radio's fault but he knew his brother. He knew he got angry when he was scared.

So he let him be.

Instead, he pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled through his contacts. He'd gotten a hold of Feferi earlier and she was leaving with Aradia for the outer part of town. They'd set up a meeting spot at an abandoned apartment complex they used to sneak into when they were little but there was someone else Eridan needed to find.

He scrolled his way down to Sollux's name and clicked it, only to be immediately met with an automated message.

_"We're sorry, but number you are trying to reach is currently-"_

No.

Nonono_nonono_!

Eridan tried a few more tries to get through to Sollux's phone but each time it was the same message.

Turning to Cronus, he opened his mouth to ask for his own to try to call Sollux on but he already had the device pressed against his ear, brows furrowed while his eyes focused out the car window. Finally, he pulled the cell phone away from his ear.

"Cro-"

"They must a' shut down the satellites or somethin'..."

Violet eyes turned to look out the window at the houses they drove past. He knew they had to go but he couldn't just bail without finding out if Sollux had left or not. His Dad was out of town too with his older brother on some big computer tech conference or some shit. The whole Captor family was just a bunch of nerds. Cute nerds. But nerds all the same.

"Wait!" He snapped, grabbing the steering wheel and giving it a sharp yank.

Cronus cursed as the car suddenly swerved and he he slammed on the breaks, twisting the wheel to straighten the vehicle back out while Eridan opened the door and took off down the sidewalk. Cronus opened the door to get out after him, "Eridan, where the _fuck _do ya think you're goin'?!"

"Sollux's house. Just stay there!"

He ignored the string of curses that followed after him and made his way down to the fifth house from where he'd left Cronus. Bounding up the steps, he lifted a hand to bang on the door. When nobody answered, he tried again. Still nothing. He finally stepped off the porch to look up where he knew his boyfriend's room was. His attention then slid to the fence nearby.

Making his way over, he climbed up onto it, balancing himself on the top long enough to jump for the ledge on the roof of the porch. He'd done this plenty before over the course of their relationship. Whenever he was bored he'd just drop by and scare the fuck out of the lispy asshole at night because he knew he hated it. Of course, he had a perfectly good reason to be doing this now.

Standing, he walked his way across the roof and to the window, knocking against the glass. The problem was he couldn't see a single thing through the drawn curtain.

After a moment, he finally leaned away.

Sollux was going to kill him for this but he hardly thought property damage mattered now. Grabbing the window ledge, he lifted a foot to kick at the pane of glass. At first, it didn't do anything until Eridan tried again; a crack running along the surface before it caved in on the third kick.

"Sollux." He hissed, looking around the room. It was cluttered, covered with video games, wires, and other various trinkets. Not to mention the _ungodly_ clashing of colors- namely caused by the yellow walls- that made being in the room for more than ten minutes nearly unbearable.

Something stirred in the messy bed nearby and Eridan decided then and there.

He was going to strangle him.

"Sollux fuckin' Captor!"

A startled snort sounded at the sudden shout and the nearly nonexistent mound under the comforter flailed around wildly, effectively getting himself tangled in the sheets and falling to the ground with a thud and a startled exclamation of, "Jeguth chritht!"

"Why the _fuck_ are you asleep?!" Eridan demanded, storming over to wrench the blanket off the lanky male. Eridan narrowed his eyes at the bewildered eyes staring up at him, dark hair touseled to look even more chaotic than it did on a regular basis.

"I wath tired after I got ready thith morning tho dethided to thkip thchool today."

Eridan tossed aside the blanket to put his hands on his hips with a frown, "So you've been asleep all day?!"

He was flashed a wide grin.

"Yeah. It'th been pretty awethome."

Rolling his eyes, Eridan took a breath, letting it out in a heavy sigh as his fingers lifted to punch the bridge of his nose.

Only his fucking boyfriend...

"Well, today was a bad fuckin' day to sleep in and _not _pay attention to what's going on outside." He mused, reaching down to haul Sollux to his feet and dragging him to the window. Off in the distance smoke could be seen billowing into the air and two helicopters went thrumming past the house.

"Holy shit..." Sollux mused, pushing the rims of his red and blue glasses down to reveal wide eyes; one blue while the other a burgundy that almost bordered on red, "What'th going on? North Korea finally dethided to kick our atheth?"

"I fuckin' wish it was that simple, Sol." Eridan stated, going to his television to try to turn it on but it was static on every channel now, "Try a zombie infestiation though and you fuckin' got it."

"No shit..."

They were interrupted by sudden honking and Eridan went to the window, leaning out to see his brother had pulled the car up outside the house and waved furiously at him.

"I'll explain on the way but we have to go, now. Namely before my brother comes up here to kick my ass."

The look on Sollux's face was answer enough as to how he felt about getting in a car with Cronus Ampora. Eridan promptly punched his arm and ignored the yelp, "You don't have a choice about bein' picky. Now get in the cod damn car, Sol."

After a few minutes of bickering with him and pushing him towards the door, Eridan finally got him to get a bag and throw some of his shit into it- his laptop and some other things (Eridan didn't bother questioning why since it _was_ Sollux)- and bounded down the stairs after Eridan to the front door.

As awesome as it would've been to go out of the window, there was no point when there was a perfectly good front door ready for use without risking a broken ankle.

Eridan pulled open the door once they reached it and slipped inside, Cronus getting ready to open his mouth and say something until he realized Sollux was climbing into the backseat and a sneer crossed his face in record time, "Wait. Why the fuck is _he _coming?"

"Feeling'th mutual, shitthtain."

"Because I'm not leavin' my boyfriend to fuckin' zombies now drive the cod damn car and, Sol, shut up."

"Oh my god, fuckin'-..." Cronus' curses quieted as he put the car in drive and sped his way down the street with a screech of tires on pavement. When he suddenly turned down another road.

"Woah, wait. Why are we goin' this way?" Eridan demanded, twisting around in his seat to look back at the intersection they were supposed to have gone through.

"Because, everyone's leavin'. Do ya have any idea how backed up the highways are goin' to be, Eridan? Fuck no. I know this town like the back a' my hand so I'm takin' some back roads here, 'kay? Cool your shit."

Eridan pursed his lips but stayed silent otherwise. His gaze slid out to the window again until fingers ran through the back of his hair, yanking his head back with a grunt of discomfort. Staring up at Sollux with a mild look of irritation.

"Tho, mind telling me how thith zombie infethtation thtarted exthactly?"

Eridan relaxed against the seat with a heavy sigh, glancing away for a moment, "I dunno, Sol. Shit, if I wished I did. All anyone really knows is that people are dyin', then comin' back to life and eatin' anythin' they manage to catch. We're goin' to meet Fef and Ar at some old apartments that Fef and I used to run around in."

Silence fell on the car until Sollux spoke again.

"Do you think they made it though?"

They lived in a place on the outside of the city but Feferi lived in the city center in one of the nice, luxurious suites and no doubt Aradia had been staying there with her since her mother was out of town with Eridan's father since they worked with the same company.

Well, Feferi's Mom ran it but same difference.

"I hope so. She said she was already out when I managed to get ahold a' her but... It's been a while."

Another brief pause.

"...What about TZ?"

She was blind after all and someone who couldn't see where the fuck she was going had chances slim to none.

"I don't know."

"...ED?"

"Hm?"

"What about my Dad and Mituna?"

Eridan lifted his gaze back to examine Sollux. While his eyes were hidden behind his glasses, the upward furrow of his brows and the way his lips were quirked was enough to prove how worried he was.

Especially since Sollux Captor could keep a mean poker face through almost anything.

He looked back to the windshield and lifted a hand to grab onto the one still curled in his hair, fingers squeezing against the appendage softly, "I don't know, Sol."


End file.
